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© Locarno Film Festival / Ti-Press
With a vibrant program that embraced the full spectrum of what cinema has to offer, Locarno78 stood as a celebration of cinema’s myriad possibilities, from the glories of popular cinema to gentle naturalism of independent dramas, from avant‑garde experiments to elegantly crafted classical narratives. The Festival was defined by the palpable excitement of sold‑out screenings and bustling spectators snaking through Locarno’s streets as well as by the distinctive sidebar sections that together continue to make it an essential meeting point for the global community of cinephiles.
The prize list of the 78th Locarno Film Festival was topped by Tabi to Hibi by Sho Miyake, the fourth Japanese winner of the top prize in the Festival’s history after Masahiro Kobayashi’s The Rebirth (Ai no yokan) in 2007, Akio Jissoji’s This Transient Life (Mujō), which was one of four films to share the prize in 1970, and Teinosuke Kinugasa’s classic Gate of Hell (Jigokumon) in 1954, in a year when the three main prizes were awarded by the International Critic’s Jury.
Meanwhile White Snail by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter won the Special Jury Prize, while the Pardo for Best Direction went to Abbas Fahdel for Tales of the Wounded Land. The two Best Performance Awards were given respectively to Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić for Bog neće pomoći (God Will Not Help) by Hana Jušić and to Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov, stars of White Snail. The Pardo d’Oro in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente was awarded to Tóc, giấy và nước… (Hair, Paper, Water…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý.
Giona A. Nazzaro, Artistic Director of the Locarno Film Festival: “A successful edition beyond our wildest expectations that celebrates the enduring and gentle power of cinema and its manifolded ways of bringing communities together to share the wonderful gifts of peace. We are grateful to all the directors that trusted the festival with their works. It allowed us to create a forward-looking edition, with its gaze firmly set in the future. We are certain these works will stand the test of time and become beacons of hope for young talents that are just starting to dream the films they want to make tomorrow. A festival is like building a better tomorrow. One film at the time”.
Piazza Grande was quite literally the stage for countless extraordinary moments shared between thousands. Among them were appearances by iconic British actress and writer Emma Thompson, who presented her latest film The Dead of Winter to a sold-out Piazza Grande, Jackie Chan, the Asian action superstar who brought his trademark wit and energy to the Festival, Willem Dafoe, who came to present his latest film The Birthday Party, Iranian-French star Golshifteh Farahani, whose emotional speech on the Piazza Grande brought powerful feeling to the start of the 11 days, Oscar-winning writer-director Alexander Payne, costume designer Milena Canonero, and Asian-American star Lucy Liu, including many others.
With 224 films, 101 world premieres, and over 300 screenings, Locarno’s theaters became a showcase for the very best of cinema from around the world. Across the Concorso Internazionale, Concorso Cineasti del Presente, Fuori Concorso, and Pardi di Domani, the Festival revealed the vitality and formal diversity of both Swiss and international filmmaking, placing an extraordinary range of works in conversation and crafting a program as stimulating as it was wide‑ranging. In parallel, the Locarno78 Retrospective “Great Expectations: British Postwar Cinema (1945-1960)” and the section Histoire(s) du Cinéma put the contemporary program in the context of the history of cinema.
Pardo d’Oro – Grand Prize of the Festival and City of Locarno
to TABI TO HIBI (TWO SEASONS, TWO STRANGERS) by Sho Miyake, Japan
Special Jury Prize – Cities of Ascona and Losone
to WHITE SNAIL by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, Austria/Germany
Pardo for Best Direction – City and Region of Locarno
to Abbas Fahdel for TALES OF THE WOUNDED LAND, Lebanon
Pardo for Best Performance
to Manuela Martelli and Ana Marija Veselčić for BOG NEĆE POMOĆI (GOD WILL NOT HELP) by Hana Jušić, Croatia/Italy/Romania/Greece/France/Slovenia
Pardo for Best Performance
to Marya Imbro and Mikhail Senkov for WHITE SNAIL by Elsa Kremser and Levin Peter, Austria/Germany
Special Mention
DRY LEAF by Alexandre Koberidze, Germany/Georgia
Pardo d’Oro – Concorso Cineasti del Presente
to TÓC, GIẤY VÀ NƯỚC… (HAIR, PAPER, WATER…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, Belgium/France/Vietnam
Best Emerging Director Award – City and Region of Locarno
to Cecilia Kang for HIJO MAYOR, Argentina/France
Special Jury Prize CINÉ+
to GIOIA MIA (SWEETHEART) by Margherita Spampinato, Italy
Pardo for Best Performance
to Aurora Quattrocchi for GIOIA MIA (SWEETHEART) by Margherita Spampinato, Italy
Pardo for Best Performance
to Levan Gelbakhiani for DON’T LET THE SUN by Jacqueline Zünd, Switzerland/Italy
Concorso Corti d’Autore
Pardino d’Oro WePresent by WeTransfer for the Best Auteur Short Film
to A VERY STRAIGHT NECK by Neo Sora, Japan/China
Concorso Internazionale
Pardino d’Oro Arts3 Foundation for the Best International Short Film
to HYENA by Altay Ulan Yang, USA
Pardino d’Argento Arts3 Foundation for the International Competition
to STILL PLAYING by Mohamed Mesbah, France
Pardi di Domani Best Direction Award – BONALUMI Engineering
to PRIMERA ENSEÑANZA (PRIMARY EDUCATION) by Aria Sánchez and Marina Meira, Cuba/Spain/Brazil
Medien Patent Verwaltung AG Award
to FORCE TIMES DISPLACEMENT by Angel WU, Taiwan
Concorso Nazionale
Pardino d’Oro SRG SSR for the Best Swiss Short Film
to O RIO DE JANEIRO CONTINUA LINDO (RIO REMAINS BEAUTIFUL) by Felipe Casanova, Belgium/Brazil/Switzerland
Pardino d’Argento SRG SSR for the National Competition
to TUSEN TONER by Francesco Poloni, Switzerland
Best Swiss Newcomer Award
to L’AVANT-POSTE 21 by Camille Surdez, Switzerland
Locarno Film Festival Short Film Candidate – European Film Awards
O RIO DE JANEIRO CONTINUA LINDO (RIO REMAINS BEAUTIFUL) by Felipe Casanova, Belgium/Brazil/Switzerland
Swatch First Feature Award
to BLUE HERON by Sophy Romvari, Canada/Hungary
Pardo Verde
to MARE'S NEST by Ben Rivers, United Kingdom/France/Canada
Special Mentions
TÓC, GIẤY VÀ NƯỚC… (HAIR, PAPER, WATER…) by Nicolas Graux and Trương Minh Quý, Belgium/France/Vietnam
UNE FENÊTRE PLEIN SUD (A SOUTH FACING WINDOW) by Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir, France/Mongolia
The 79th Locarno Film Festival will take place from 5 to 15 August 2026.
